


Let Me See Your Scars

by nyagosstar



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Apocalypse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-12
Updated: 2012-10-12
Packaged: 2017-11-16 04:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyagosstar/pseuds/nyagosstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which, I kill all of Amestris.  And then sort of don't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me See Your Scars

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really sure this works as well on paper as it did in my head. I had a specific idea in mind, a specific kind of flow to the story. I got to the end and then, just couldn't follow through.
> 
> sainnis was my beta for this and talked me through it and I ended up writing a fluffy postscript.
> 
> I don't know if that's a total cop out or if it made it manageable for me as the writer.

The phone rang, an insistent and sharp noise that made Ed reach for it in the hopes of making it stop. He didn’t really care about who was on the other end, he only wanted the noise to end. But when he picked up the receiver, the phone continued to ring. He set it back on the cradle and turned around, finding another phone on the desk. When he picked that one up, the ringing didn’t stop either and Ed started searching through the house, trying to find the one that was ringing. Every room brought another new phone and another dead end.

“Ed.”

He woke with a gasp, confusion coloring his perception as the ringing from his dreams didn’t fade. Roy was sitting up in bed, running a hand over his face before he swung his legs out of the bed. “You were muttering about the ringing,” Roy yawned at him. “I’ll get it. It’s probably for me anyway. You should go back to sleep.”

“Like any phone call we’d get at this time of night is going to be a good thing.” Ed slipped out of the bed and followed Roy downstairs. Whoever was calling wasn’t giving up; the phone had to have been on its thirtieth ring by now and he knew that even if the ringing stopped, he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. Was someone hurt? Had something had happened to Al? What other reason would their phone be ringing at two in the morning?

Roy reached the phone first. “Hello?” His hand shot out and he grabbed Ed’s arm. “Maes, what? You have to slow down, I can’t understand.” He shook his head and fixed his eyes on Ed, his fingers tightening on Ed’s bicep with each passing second. “We’ll be right there. No, it’s okay, we’re coming right now.” He hung up the phone. “We have to go to the hospital. Ben’s really sick.”

Together, they grabbed their clothes and left the house, working in silence but never more than a few inches apart. Roy kept reaching out and touching Ed as if to reassure himself that Ed was actually there and for his part, Ed was happy for the contact. It was fundamentally unfair that anything bad should happen to Hughes ever again. It wasn’t equivalent. He’d paid more than enough for a happy life and if something happened to one of his kids, Ed couldn’t even think about what it would do to him.

At the car, Roy hesitated, and then handed Ed the keys and slipped into the passenger’s seat. When Ed took his place, he reached out and grabbed Roy’s trembling hand, offering silent support. The streets were empty at the late hour and inside the car, neither of them broke the silence. Ed concentrated on getting them there safely and only his automail kept Roy’s grip from hurting him. 

They didn’t pass anyone on the roads, and Ed expected the hospital to be empty, but when they passed through the doors, they were met with doctors, nurses, and all manner of patients and families facing the same worries. Ed left Roy parked near a water cooler and managed to get the information they needed. Roy still hadn’t spoken.

He took Roy by the hand and led him to the waiting area he’d been told by the nurse and found Hughes pacing the length of the small room. Elysia was curled in a chair by the window, a blanket over her shoulders and pillow clutched to her chest. Gracia was not to be found.

“Maes?”

Hughes stopped in his tracks and turned to Roy. He crossed the room in two steps and nearly collapsed in Roy’s arms. “I’m sorry. It’s just I didn’t know who to call and he’s so sick. I didn’t know what else to do—“

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. What can we do?” Roy wasn’t in much better shape than Hughes and Ed still didn’t know exactly what was happening.

“Where’s Gracia? Have you spoken to the doctors yet?” he asked when it was clear that Roy wasn’t going to.

Hughes seemed to notice him for the first time. “She’s talking to them now. One of the boys in Ben’s class was visiting relatives in Creta and he brought something back. Something like half his class is sick and one of the,” Hughes had to stop himself and Ed could see his hands tighten on Roy’s arms. “One of the little girls died a few hours ago.”

Ed swore and turned away from the complete devastation in Hughes’ eyes. He’d read something about a school having to close due to an outbreak in the morning paper, but he hadn’t thought much of it. It was surprising there hadn’t been more coverage and that the hospital wasn’t in quarantine. If half of Ben’s class was sick with something that could kill, someone should be making sure it wasn’t spreading.

He watched as Roy led Hughes to a chair and sat with him, the two of them talking in low voices, Hughes’ hand still latched to Roy’s forearm. Ed wondered if he should call Al, but his brother had no specialty in children’s medicine, and selfishly he wanted to keep Al safe from any possibility of infection. Instead he turned to Elicia and took a seat at her side, draping an arm over her shoulders. “How you holding up?”

She shrugged, but leaned into him. “I don’t know.”

“What’s going on?”

“He was fine until dinner time. I was teasing him because he wouldn’t finish supper and he started crying and then mom sent me to my room and then he went to bed because he wasn’t feeling good so I never got to apologize.” He could see her being so brave and trying so hard not to cry as she clutched the pillow tighter. “What if I never get to say I’m sorry?” 

Because he couldn’t lie, because he couldn’t tell her that she’d get the chance or that everything was going to be all right, Ed hugged her closer and told her the one true thing he knew about siblings. “He knows you didn’t mean it. He knows you love him.”

***

The night passed slowly. Gracia came back with no news from the doctors. They were still monitoring Ben, still watching the other children. Still trying to find a way to cure those who’d been infected.

Ed sat with Elicia until she fell asleep and then gave up his place to Gracia, who looked like she could do with sitting with one of her children for a while. A few moments later, Hughes left Roy and went to sit on the other side of Elicia, his arm across the back of her chair and resting on Gracia’s shoulder. They sat, huddled against the world, and waited.

At a loss for what to do, Ed made rounds with coffee, brought blankets and sat with whoever looked like they needed it. Roy had ceased to speak hours ago and lingered within arm’s reach whenever they were in the same room. Hughes accepted any drink pressed into his hands and more than once Ed thought about slipping him something stronger if only it would clear some of the exhaustion from his face. Gracia whispered stories of her children, the funny, endearing and chaotic things they did to make her life richer. 

He was staring out the window as the sun rose, Roy pressed against his side, when word came that another of Ben’s classmates had died. 

Finally, finally, the administrators put the hospital in quarantine and everyone who’d had any contact with a child from the school was tracked down and brought in. By mid-afternoon, three more of the children had died and the first parent of one of the children had succumbed as well. Elicia was admitted and Roy felt hot to the touch. 

This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. They’d fought too hard, overcome too much for a sickness to ruin it all. Roy still wasn’t Fuhrer, and Ed had so many arrays in his head every day that could help people and make their lives better; it wasn’t fair that this was how it was going to play out.

By dusk, Ed finally broke down and called Al, only to discover his brother was quarantined inside his own clinic. Some of his regular patients had children who attended the same school and had taken them to Al when they started to show symptoms. His brother was at as much of a loss as the doctors in the hospital, though by the smallest of mercies, none of his patients had died yet.

When Ed started to show symptoms, the doctors tried to put him in a room of his own, to remove him from Roy’s side, but after a minor scuffle, they decided to leave him where he was. Not that Roy was in any state to appreciate his efforts. He’d lapsed into a coma hours ago and was as still as Ed had ever seen him.

He hadn’t heard news from Hughes or Gracia in hours and didn’t know if it was a good sign or simply confirmation of what he knew was coming. It wasn’t fair, but Ed had finally found something he couldn’t fight.

***

 

***

 

Ed woke to a burning in his chest and Al leaning over him with a manic grin on his face. “How do you feel, brother?”

Ed sat up slowly, rubbing at his chest and looking around. Roy was still at his side, and the rise and fall of his chest meant his was still hanging on. “What did you do?” He looked down and saw a complicated array written on his chest in ink. “That looks like—“ He looked up at Al. “How did you come up with this?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about alchemy and medicine and when everyone started getting sick, I figured now was as good a time as any to test it. We didn’t have anything to lose.” Al offered his hand and helped Ed up. “Come on. I’ll need your help. There are too many people here for me to do it on my own. You have to draw the array on the patient’s chest and activate it. Just clapping won’t work and we don’t have a lot of time.”

He watched as Al drew the complex array on Roy and activated it. A moment later, Roy was coughing and waking up, his hand rubbing his chest. “Ed, what’s going on?”

Ed fought the growing sense of elation, the desire to take a moment and celebrate their life and instead grabbed Roy’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “Get up, you’re going to have to help us save the day.”


End file.
